Hard on the heels of the trans-Tasman travel bubble being confirmed by the Government, came positive signs in New Zealand’s new truck and trailer markets.

Maybe, just maybe, the industry is returning to some semblance of pre-COVID 19 normality. 

The March Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency statistics on new truck registrations (4.5 tonnes to maximum GVM) showed a promising upturn.

Not only was the 503-truck total healthily up on February (321) – and on March last year (347)….

It also improved on the 495 registrations back in March 2019 – a time when COVID 19 was still many months away from even entering our vocabulary. And that has made this March performance a new alltime record for the month.

The ravages of COVID were still felt though, with 2021’s 1119 first quarter sales: While they amounted to a 7.08% improvement on Q1 last year, they still fell way short of 2019’s 1300. (That’s almost 14% behind the benchmark first quarter).

The official NZTA stats show that the heavy trailer market also lifted in March – the 131 registrations were significantly up on the previous month (with 105 registrations) and on March last year (when just 91 trailers were registered). On the other hand, it was still well behind the 153 registrations in March 2019.

Year-to-date, the 337 trailer registrations to the end of March were, similarly, 34 behind 2019’s Q1 total, but 27 up on last year’s tally.

In the overall 4.5t-maximum GVM truck market, Isuzu (220/104) reclaimed the top spot from FUSO (210/84) – for the month and the year so far.

However, the Q1 totals show that the longtime NZ market No. 1 has given up some of its market share to FUSO – Isuzu now holding a 19.7% share, compared to FUSO’s 18.8%. Their figures last year were 23.8% and 16.5% respectively.

The next three in the YTD standings – Hino (159/73), Kenworth (69/28) and Volvo (66/29) – retained their February positions, while Iveco (65/42) jumped three places into sixth, at the expense of Mercedes-Benz (63/28), Scania (62/31) and Foton (39/16). DAF (38/16) retained 10th.

In the 3.5-4.5t GVM crossover segment, Fiat (92/32) continued to lead, while Volkswagen (36/30) displaced Mercedes-Benz (13/3) for second, with Peugeot (11/7) and Ford (9/7) going ahead of Renault (6/1). The category saw the addition of newcomers LDV (2/2) and Isuzu (1/1). 

In the 4.5-7.5t segment, FUSO (115/49) jumped further ahead of Isuzu (69/27), with Mercedes-Benz (40/17) and Hino (32/16) retaining third and fourth. Foton (25/12) and Iveco (23/14) each gained a place, at the cost of Hyundai (20/6). 

In the 7.5-15t class, Isuzu (99/50) made big gains – almost doubling its YTD total. Hino (60/24), FUSO (42/15), Foton (14/4), Iveco (8/2), UD (4/0), Hyundai (3/0) and DAF (1/1) held their places – joined by newcomer Mercedes-Benz (1/1)

In the small 15-20.5t GVM category, Hino (19/6) held its lead over FUSO (12/6) – with Scania (5/0), Mercedes-Benz (5/1), Iveco (5/3) and Isuzu and UD (both 5/4) tied for third.

And in the very tiny 20.5-23t division, FUSO (3/0) was joined by Hino (3/3). 

In the premium 23t-max GVM sector, Kenworth (68/28) continued to lead, with second-placed Volvo (66/29) and Scania (57/31), in third, closing slightly.

Isuzu (47/23) and Hino (45/24) both overtook FUSO (38/14) for fourth and fifth respectively. 

DAF (36/16) held seventh, while Iveco (29/23) improved four places to eighth, at the expense of UD (26/12) and Mercedes-Benz (17/9). 

In the heavy trailer market, No. 1 Patchell (48/21) stretched its lead with a strong month, ahead of YTD runner-up Fruehauf (35/14). MTE (24/14) and Domett (23/9) both overtook Roadmaster (20/3) for third and fourth respectively. 

The rest of the top 10 retained their positions, with TMC (17/7) in sixth, ahead of Transport Trailers (16/7), Freighter (12/4), TES (12/4) and Transfleet (11/3).